Wire tying machine



May 29, 1956 w. JANSEN 2,747,620

WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed NOV. 20, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 bl @Jaen/ivf Jalzzezajeceag May 29, 1956 w. JANSEN 2,747,620

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May 29, 1956 w. JANSEN 2,747,620

WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed NOV. 20, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Fig LZ1; ezzfboz E @kn/6e@ ewa@ May 29, 1956 w. JANSEN 2,747,620

WIRE TYING MACHINE Filed Nov. 2o, 1951 5 shets-sheet 4 Y W ejb/12,6 eJL/Jecew@ 5y f/54155774 dwf/55M Mam, i Hem fea/ ganan/4M 0F /V/A/a@ Aff/@5 May 29, 1956 w. .JANSEN 2,747,620

' WIRE TYING MAcHNE Filed Nov. 20. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Fig.5

MWA/Q United States Patent WIRE TYING MACHINE Wilhelm-Jansen, deceased, late of MunchenfGladbach, Germany, by- Elisabeth. Jansen, Widow' and heir and guardian. of; minor heirs,YMunchen.-Gladbach, Germany Application November 29,1951, Serial No. 257,381

Climssprioritapplication Germany December 9,I 1950V 111 Claims.y (Cl. IL10-93.6)

rEhezpsent'. invention relates` to*v ar wire tyingi machine; byfwhidizlmeanas devicezfor' tensioning a length of bind` ing wire about a package, carton, box or the like, for intertwistingfpomonsof'the wireito fasten the wire securely Whilee tensioned, antiiforfcuttingV away: any excess-portions of; the wiref length. More particularly the invention relates nr adenine of thisxnature in whichV operationof'a single.- lever.- brings.y about these three'.` essential stepsl of wireftyingi e; tensioning; twisting, and cutting; in. the properseqnencez,

Previously known; devices of. this kind have theadisadvantageethatitis'either dicultzor'impossible to have the working,processesfoccunsuccessiS/ely;,inithe,necessaryfway ifa perfect;fasteninggzisto.-beachieyedsI The maintenance 015d thecozect sequence isgessential in;order'tofobtffrinper.` feet'fastening., For exampleif the. cnttingfotstept takes piace betore:thevtwsting'tension isreleased, at theifastening,- thef-shoniends then left an the fasteningwill: he: bent outwards by the twist which accompanies; the' release: of tension, and willlstick' out. Such.. fastenings are apt' to Cause, injuries and shouldfthereforebe avoided;

Afa anothen examples. thetension isV reduced onthe spreading tools. which maintain the; tension' in the-.loop .of wire befonezthev ends are cut, but atthesarne time.. the applied twist is maintained, the ends will turn upfwherr. they arecunandiwillstick out as in the. precedingrexample;

Anotherrdefect of thev known machines istheirrunwieldy nature, which.l prevents.- them from; being.; used. to :best vantage. This, defect ispresent, for examplewhen,the functions., are. divided amonggseveral separate units. Due phlicationfofL lever strokes, large play, etc., also. serve,- to reduce theeiciency.

The.. object. of.. the. invention. is;` to producer a wire. tying; machiiieoperatedhy asingleflevenin whichthe. individuaLwork processes. are` accurately maintained.with1veryzy SimpleemeansI and. can bezsynchronized; with: one another.` At. the same. timesevemanfunskilled workman -w-illbeeahle: tobreakV downthe-.machine into-just` two partsfinzordery toclean and lubricate all theparts.

Quite generally,, these objects-.may be:achieved.- by a: specialarrangementfoftvarious parts, Which-,can be wholly. adopted `from :present-daytechnique Hence the achieve mentL of, the .sta-ted aims,.- is :.possiblemerely( by rearrange-.- mentsof,theseparts Such'. a re-.arrangement consistszn; having, theperating, lever actuate one or bothltensioning:v levers with. the Y aid l of. suitable: partsv during the firstY part ofL its. forward..- movement, wire gripping mechanisms: of conventional,designbeingattached to the endsofztheitenfsioninggleyerss. In. thesecond part' of .the-,forward'mov ment,- eitherI after thetensioning step isV completed; or better5r just: before. its .Y completion; the Y twisting; pinion z is f set n,.op erationhv With :this preferred-order, at theendgoffthef forward. motion of. theroperating lever, the binding. is` not oniy *tensione/das -in-thefcaseof conventional devices,,b1l1t` thee binding-is Kalso -fastenedby the intertwi-stingsgiven to, overlapped: wsire1portionsA` in the Y. slot of the' twisting= piniondnringtherotation impartedto the latter.

2,747,620 Patented May 29, 1956 ICC During the returnlstroke-'of dieoperatingleverthetwistf ingA pinion sstationarY; i. e., it isl'ockedi and'ithe'transmission par-tswliich cause it to turn are free'witli'respera tothe operating lever during: its returnstroke: 0n the other hand the movingparts which operate the tensioning leveror levers, arev caused to-operate on the return stroke, so that during thisstrokethe tensioning equipment returns to itsoriginal position. However, before the tension is released during; tlie1 returnI stroke; one'd orl two4 cutting blades areA actuated`V by thev operating lever so as'to cut oit `the end'soff the wire; Thus the wires-are`-cut olf before theA tension isf released;l and: the' formation of projecting ends'is thereby avoided It. shouldA perhaps bepointed out atthis time that" the workingparts (which, as` already noted; mayle'c'o'nStructed, to begin with', on tliebasis'- of'pres'ent-f day practice) are to: be so dim'ensione'd that adequateV motionsare ob* tained. In. the caset offtiieetensioning' operation, for en'n ample; sufficient' tension musti bev attainablein the Wire even where. lengthyf bindings-s are involved. To' end allowance isf made for. diferenc'es inr the' lengths ofr bind ings and of tension pathsb)L means-offa;springloadingjof one or bothI ot thearms which4v carry the wire: gripping mechanisms.

Eurther,xthe1motion.ofthe-twisting pinionfmu'st b`e so calculatedf. than; the4 entrance' slot' i's always open tothe front: again at theendloffthetwisting process, and'thatf it s-lieldiinlthisposition by. some'fmeansgsuch asa ratchet and pawl mechanism or the`- 1il-e,.duringfthe'return stroke' off' the: operating leven. The tensioning*l motion rua-yf be imparted, for example,.byfone:or'two camface's on a' connectedto theater/er, .tand-a co'operatingcam'- follower-on each'. tensioning lever, thefnumberot" thesel cam. facesand followers: b'ein'g.; dependent: on the: number of" tensioning leverstorb'eiactnated.. Thusiffltherezis onlfyfone movable tensioningclever,.theiothenwire grippinglgmechanismbeing tired;v then `naturally/011151.* one: cam face and'. cooperatix'rgA ollowerwvillibe necessary..

lhewirefty-ing macliinefotimy inventionimay bebrltia'dL ly. denedas comprisinga housing, aireciprocablefoperatl.. ing) lever, a pairs ofitensioningilevers pivotally'y mounted within: the: housing, arr arm ypi-votallymounted upon'y each.' tension'.1'ng ,rV lverg, the pointsi of! pivotal mountingtof 1 said: arms:` lieiirgiintermediate the ends:thereof;` corresponding.- ends of;said being linked to-one1 another-Thy tension springemeansgezmlrl of;saidarms carrying-a wireigrippin'g' mechanism at; tle 'f endv tliereof remotes from? said; spring. means; at leastffonecam'rrgidly secured tosad operating lever; a s1otted1-twi'stingipinion f rotatably mounted-in said housing; agearfwheeelimeshingwitlifsaid pinionyatleast" one; pivotally'mounted". wire: cutting: blade, y and afv ratchetV wheell rotatably' mounted with".I respectA to l saidcam', said' gearfwheel being rigidly securedtwsad ratchetiwheeli Mahsareassoeiated wittisaidcamforspreadingfaparttlieends of saidarmsfoarryingftlefwire grippingmeclansms: during theinitilstageofl'arforwrdstrokeof'saidioperatingfleverr. Means Iarefasso'eiatedilwith said Icamzfonactuatfing saidratchetawlieel andf Hence saidgearnvheel'and pin ioniduring allatcr sta'ge'foforward nl'ovementloffsa'id'iojgaerating-levert Fnrthermons;meansareassociated'witifsaid' rate-lieti wheelfonholding vsaidf ratchet? wheeli' and'fhence said"` gear wheel.4 andpinon stationary duringf afreturnI strokeY offsaidoperatngflver, and gmea-ns .are` providdlin association'. with'y said. carrroractuating` `said cutting-bladf during theeretumistruke of said operatingilever.

In the drawings. whichllustrate arrembodimentzoffthe; inventionz'.

Eigureel isl a longitudinal;sectinnzvthrougli the: centre.

Figure 4 is a section along the line IV-IV of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a section along the line V-V of Figure 1.

As evident from the drawings, in the turtle-shell shaped housinglt), axle 12 (Figure 3), bent yfrom a steel rod, is mounted -and is integral with operating lever 11.. The end of the lever is provided with a knob 13 for convenient gripping, and to permit easier handling of the `device another knob 14 is fastened to the rear of the housing for the other hand to grip. A cam 15 is rigidly secured to the axle 12 and carries cam faces 16. The shapes of the cam faces 16 on either side are shown particularly in Figures 2 and 3.V In Vthe central plane of cam 15 a gear Wheel 17 is mounted which rotates freely with respect to the axle 12.A A ring-like ratchet wheel `18 is rigidly secured to gear wheel 17. As may be'best seen in Figure 5, gear Wheel 17 and ratchet wheel 18 are secured against axial displacement by a bifurcated guide piece 19. Gear wheel V17 meshes with a twisting pinion 20, which, as shown in Figures 2 and 3, is journalled in two bearings 21, the bearings being secured to the base plate 54 of housing 10 by screws 22 which also serve to secure base 54 to'housing 10. Twisting pinion 20 is slotted (at 25) in the conventional manner for the reception of the wire portions which are to'be intertwisted.

From Figure l it can be seen that ratchet wheel 18 has three inner free-run notches 23 spaced at intervals of 120, and three outer notches 24, also spaced at intervals of 120 C. Ratchet wheel 18 is shown in its position of rest, With entrance slot 25 of twisting pinion 20 opening to the front. A pin 26 is disposed in a radial bore 27 in cam 15, and is urged outwardly by the action of a compression spring 28, which biases the end of the pin against therinner periphery 29 of the ratchet wheel 18.

; Pin 26 is disposed midway between two of the free run notches 23 when the ratchet wheel is in its position of rest. When the lever 11 is swung forwardly, driving cam 15 (and therefore pin 26) in the direction of arrow 30 (Figure 1), the pin must travel through the 60 degrees which separate it from the nearest notch (in the direction of arrow 30) before motion is imparted to the ratchet wheel 18; Thus,'when operating lever has been turned forwardly through 180 degrees, ratchet wheel 18 will only move through 120 degrees. As will be more fully explained hereinafter, ratchet Wheel 18 is held against movement during the return or backward stroke of the operating lever, while pin 26 Will of course be carried back through 180 degrees during the return movement and will therefore once again occupy a position midway between two of the notches 23. Notches 23 are so formed that when pin 26 enters a notch during a return stroke of the operating lever, it will ride out of the notch rather than jamming against a wall thereof. It will be appreciated that eachomplete Vreciprocation of the operating` lever 11 results in a movement of ratchet wheel 18 through 120 degrees in the direction of arrow 30, so that three reciprocations serve to give ratchet wheel 18,v and the associated gear wheel 17, a complete revolution.

The means for holding ratchet wheel 18 against movement during the return stroke of the operating lever will now be described. A pawl 31 is mounted on housing 10 by means of bolt 32 and is subjected to the pull of a tension spring 36, which is hooked at one of its ends to a projection 33 extending from the pawl, and at its other end to a ling 35. Ring 35 is secured adjacent the rear under surface of housing 10 by means of a bolt 34 which also serves to mount the hand-grip knob 14. Pawl 31 is shown at its position of rest in one of the notches 24. Pawl 31 is so designed in relation to the notches 24, that movement of ratchet wheel 18 is blocked in the direction opposite to that designated by arrow 30, i. e., during the return stroke of the operating lever, so that the gear wheel 17 and the twisting pinion 20, are held stationary, Whereas during the forward motion (motion in the direction of arrow 30), the action of the corner 37 of the notch 24 in the ratchet wheel 18 upon the slanting surface 38 on the underside of the pawl 31 lifts the pawl out of the notch, thus acting against the tension of spring 36. As will be readily understandable the number and the spacing of the teeth on gear wheel 17 and twisting pinion 20 must be so chosen that the degrees of movement of gear wheel 17 which occurs during the reciprocation of the operating lever imparts a number of substantially complete revolutions to the pinion so that the slot 25 therein will be correctly aligned, i. e., opening forwardly, upon completion of the operation.

Cam faces 16 of cam hub 15 are so designed thatas shown in Figure 2, two tensioning levers 39, each of which is pivotally mounted in the housing as indicated at 40, and which are drawn towards each other, by two tension springs 41, make contact with these faces through rollers 42; (See also Figure 3.) The cam faces 16 occupy more than 60 of the Vcircumference of the faces of the cam 15.

Tensioning levers 39 support double-armedclamping levers 43 which are pivotally mounted, as indicatedv at 44, at the outer Vends of the tensioning levers 39. Clamp-y ing levers 43 consist of rearwardly extending arms 45 and forwardly extending arms 47. Rearwardly extend-- ing arms 45'are linked by springs 41, which, therefore, act on tensioning levers 39, not directly, but indirectly through these arms. Plates 46, punchedV and pressed outwards from the tensioning levers 39, serve as stopsvfor the arms 45 of clamping levers 43 and limit their motionrtoward one another. Wire gripping mechanisms 48 and 49 (of conventional design) are attached to the forward arms 47 of clamping levers 43. The arrangement is such that the tensioning motion, even with large bindings and soft packages is suticient, while, for tying smaller boxes for example where only a short tensioning path is possible, springs 41 prevent breaking of the binding wire, and clamping devices 48,V 49 do not separate any further, despite the further outward motion of tensioning levers 39, because the clamping levers 43 execute a rotary motion, the outer ends of arms 47 moving toward Vone another. i

As may be noted in'Figure 3, slotted guide plates 50 are disposed ilushly against the opposite ends of the twisting pinion bearings 21, the plates 50 being rigidly secured to the bearings 21. At the side of each slotted guide plate 50, a cutting blade 52 is pivotally mounted with respect to each bearing 21 by means of screws 51 (see Figures 3 and 4). Cutting blades 52 are normally urged to a position which clears the slots in guide plates 50, i. e. to an open position, by the action of springs 53.

One Yend of spiral spring 53 enters the cutting blade 52 and the other end bears against the base plate 54. Arms 55 extend from cutting blades 52. These arms 55 have a tiat edge portion 56 which, in the open position, rests against axle 12, so that the axle constitutes a stop for they blades. The upper front portions of arms 55 are tapered as may be noted in Figures 3 and 4. The cam 15, as may be seen in Figures 1, 3 and 4 has a longitudinal bore 59,'

in which are lodged two solid cylindrical pins 60, which are normally urged outwardly away from one another by a cylindrical compression spring 61 of similar or somewhat smaller diameter than the pins 60.V These pins noredge portions 56 of the arms 5S. During the return stroke K of lever 11, since thickness of arm` 55, as Figure 3 shows,

is considerably greater than the convexity of end faces 63V ofthe. pins 60, the arms S are deflected forwardly u.and

vdownwardly bythe pins '60 forcing v.cutting bladesz Vvto sweepacrossthe slots in guide plates 50, cutting away the Vexcess portions of wire. 'Stop ledges '64 extend from' housmotion are devoted to overtwist By overtwist, I refer to the fact that I preferably employ gearing which rotates the twisting pinion somewhat more than a whole number of revolutions during a forward stroke of the lever, to compensate for the springiness in the Wire binding material. During the return stroke of the lever 11, the rst of motion are devoted to release of overtwist, cutting takes place Within the next 120, and during approximately 70 of the return stroke, release of tension occurs, i. e. levers 39 are permitted to return to the position shown in the drawings. Preferably, about 10 of play is provided between pawl 31 and the adjacent notch 24 in the outer periphery of the ratchet Wheel 18 when the operating lever 11 has been rotated to its most forward position. I prefer to describe my lever arm 11 as rotatable through approximately a half-circle. Where no overtwist is employed, the half-circle will usually be a true half-circle of 180; but Where overtwist is employed the lever will usually be rotatable through about 200 and there will be a smooth succession of the three forward and the three rearward wire tying steps. Even in the latter (overtwist) case, a rotational limitation of 180 may be in effect, this being made possible by a shortening of some of the tying steps, particularly the tensioning, twisting and tension releasing steps.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a Wire tying machine, a housing, a reciprocable operating lever, a pair of tensioning levers pivotally mounted within the housing, aligned wire gripping mechanisms carried by said respective tensioning levers, at least one cam rigidly secured to said operating lever, a slotted twisting pinion rotatably mounted in said housing between said mechanisms, a gear wheel meshing with said pinion, at least one wire-cutting means including a wire cutting blade, a ratchet Wheel rotatably mounted with respect to said cam, said gear wheel being rigidly secured to said ratchet wheel, means associated with said cam for spreading apart the ends of said tensioning levers carrying the wire gripping mechanisms during the initial stage of a forward stroke of said operating lever, means associated with said ca m for actuating said ratchet wheel and hence said gear wheel and pinion during a later stage of forward movement of said operating lever, means associated with said ratchet wheel for holding said ratchet Wheel and hence said gear wheel and pinion stationary during a return stroke of said operating lever, and means associated with said cam for actuating said cutting blade during the return stroke of said operating lever, prior to release of said spread-apart tensioning levers.

2. A wire tying machine as defined in claim l, in which said spreading means includes two cam faces formed in opposite sides of said cam, and a cooperating cam follower mounted upon each of said tensioning levers.

3. A Wire tying machine as defined in claim l, in which said means for holding said ratchet Wheel stationary includes a plurality of notches formed in the outer periphery of said ratchet wheel and a pawl rotatably mounted Within said housing and spring-urged to bear against the outer periphery of said ratchet wheel, the edges of said notches and the portion of said pawl which bears against said ratchet wheel co-operating to permit rotation of said ratchet wheel during a forward Stroke Ofaid operating 4lever but blocking movement ofsaidratchet .wheeldurng the return Stroke of Asaid opei'atingtlever.

4. .A wire tyingmachine as deined inlclaimfl, in which Vs ai'd means for vactuating Ysai'd ratchet wheel includes a plurality of notches on the'innerjper'iphery ofsidratchet Wheel. apin disposed in a sbstantiallyradiallborelin,said

cam, and ,spring means normally nurging said outwardly'in said'bore toforce `said V,pin itolbear. against the inner periphery o`f said ratchet wheel and enter said notches whenevenrelative. movement ,Qf-saidamaud said pin aligns the pin with oneof ,the notches,

5. A wire tyingrmachineas-defined-inelaim l, in which two pivotallytmountedcutting,bladesaretprovidedtandthe :means foractuatingsaid -cutting bladesincludes apair :of pins mounted in a bore extending transversely through said cam, a compression spring disposed in said bore between said pins and urging said pins outwardly from said bore, a pair of guide plates rigidly secured to the inner wall of said housing, said guide plates being disposed so as to limit movement of said pins outwardly of said bore, arms extending upwardly from said pivotally mounted cutting blades, the upper ends of said last mentioned arms being tapered and the outer ends of said pins being of convex shape, said tapered ends permitting said pins to ride past the arms of said cutting blades during the forward motion of said operating lever, whereupon said compression spring urges said pins to occupy positions from which they will strike the arms of said cutting blades and rotate said blades during the return stroke of said operating lever.

6. A Wire tying machine as defined in claim 1, in which stop means are provided whereby said operating lever may only be turned forwardly or rearwardly through an approximate half-circle, approximately the first 70 of forward motion of said operating lever causing spreading of said levers carrying said wire gripping mechanisms and hence imparting tension to a wire binding held by said gripping mechanism, about 120 of the forward motion of said operating lever causing rotation of said twisting pinion, about 10 of overtwist being imparted to binding wire held in the slot in said pinion, approximately the first 10 of the return stroke of the operating lever being devoted to release of overtwist, actuation of the cutting blade taking place within the succeeding 120 of return movement of the operating lever, and approximately the last 70 of said return motion being applied to the release of tension.

7. A wire tying machine as defined in claim l, in which said means for holding said ratchet wheel stationary includes a plurality of notches formed in the outer periphery of said ratchet wheel and a pawl rotatably mounted within said housing and spring-urged to bear against the outer periphery of said ratchet wheel, and in which about 10 of play is provided between the pawl and the adjacent notch in the outer periphery of the ratchet Wheel when the operating lever has been rotated to its most forward position.

8. A wire tying machine as defined in claim l, in which an axle is formed integrally with the operating lever by bending a portion of the latter through substantially and in which said axle is mounted in said housing with its longitudinal axis parallel to the axis of rotation of said pinion and co-axial with the axes of rotation of said gear wheel and said ratchet Wheel, said cam being rigidly secured to said axle.

9. A wire tying machine as dened in claim l in which three notches are provided in the inner periphery of said ratchet wheel, said notches being spaced apart from one another, and three notches are provided in the outer periphery of said ratchet wheel, said last mentioned notches also being spaced 120 apart from one another.

l0. A wire tying machine as defined in claim 1, in which stop members extend from each of said tensioning levers to impose a limitation upon the movement imparted to said wire gripping mechanisms.

11. A wire tying machine as dened in claim 1, in which the means for holding said ratchet wheel stationary during a return strokeof said operating lever comprises a pawl, in which the housing is in the form of a shell and .i a base plate, the base plate and shell being detachably 5 connected to one another; in whichboth the operating lever and the pawl are supported by the shell; and in which said twisting pinion, said cutting blade, and said tensioning levers are mounted upon said base plate.

10 References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Gerrard Aug. 15, 1922 

